NHL EDGE stats: Hellebuyck trade solidifies Devils as contender

NHL.com's fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Today, we take a look at the New Jersey Devils outlook after acquiring elite goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

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The New Jersey Devils acquired Connor Hellebuyck from the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 23, and the goalie's elite advanced metrics could solidify their status as a Stanley Cup contender.

The Devils landed Hellebuyck, who's a three-time Vezina Trophy winner (2020, 2024, 2025) and also won the Hart Trophy two seasons ago (2025), without having to trade away any of their core forwards or defensemen and addressed their biggest weakness with the move. The 33-year-old, who was suspended by the Jets prior to the trade after not reporting to training camp and has not played a game this season, is under contract with the Devils until the 2030-31 season. Since 2022-23 (past five seasons), Hellebuyck ranked third in wins (144), tied for first in save percentage (.916; with Linus Ullmark), second in goals-against average (2.43; minimum 130 games in span; behind Ullmark's 2.42) and tied for second in shutouts (17; behind Ilya Sorokin's 20) at the time of the trade.

Although Hellebuyck has never made the Stanley Cup Final, he led the Jets to the Western Conference Final in 2018 and is best known for helping the United States with the gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics. He had a 41-save victory in the gold medal game against Canada, including a clutch paddle save on Canada defenseman Devon Toews. That said, Hellebuyck looks to improve upon his career playoff save percentage (.903 in 58 games), which is far below his regular-season rate (.916 in 625 games at time of trade), upon shifting from the Western Conference to New Jersey in the Eastern Conference.

Here are three underlying metrics that indicate the Devils could have a high ceiling with Hellebuyck:

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1. Hellebuyck's quality starts, saves by location

Although Hellebuyck is coming off a down year with the Jets, he still ranked ninth in the NHL in quality starts (28; starts with greater than .900 save percentage) last season. Since the start of the puck and player tracking era (2021-22), Hellebuyck led the NHL in quality starts (195) at the time of the trade.

Hellebuyck, who was a workhorse through the years for Winnipeg (at least 60 games played in six different seasons), had career highs in wins (47; tied for third-highest single-season total in NHL history; Martin Brodeur, Braden Holtby had 48 each) and shutouts (eight) in 2024-25. Even last season, when Hellebuyck had a career-low .895 save percentage in 57 games, he ranked among the NHL leaders in long-range saves (333; tied for third) and high-danger saves (377; sixth). During Hellebuyck's MVP season in 2024-25, he ranked fourth in high-danger save percentage (.848) and 10th in mid-range save percentage (.906).

The Devils, meanwhile, had struggled in high-danger save percentage this season at the time of the trade with their tandem of Jake Allen (.804) and Nico Daws (.640; moved to Winnipeg as part of Hellebuyck deal); both of those high-danger save percentages were below the NHL average (.809). New Jersey, at the time of the Hellebuyck trade, ranked 24th out of 32 teams in both team save percentage (.876) and penalty kill percentage (69.4).

UPDATE: Hellebuyck stopped 17 of 18 shots faced in his season debut with the Devils on Tuesday in their 5-1 win against the Dallas Stars. It was another quality start for Hellebuyck (.944 save percentage), who adds to his NHL-leading quality start total during the tracking era (196 since 2021-22). He stopped eight of nine shots faced from high-danger areas and all six of his perimeter shots faced.

2. Devils' elite possession metrics

The Devils, who missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, have shown signs of bouncing back; New Jersey led the NHL in 5-on-5 shot attempts percentage (59.6) this season at the time of the Hellebuyck trade. New Jersey, which was the only team to outshoot its opponents in every game played this season at the time of the trade, ranks fifth in shots on goal per game (35.0) and has allowed the sixth-fewest shots on goal per game (25.1). This shows they could provide more offense in front of Hellebuyck for the rest of this season than Winnipeg did last season -- while also supporting him defensively.

In terms of shots by location, the Devils ranked in the top 10 of all three major zones at the time of the Hellebuyck trade: second in high-danger shots on goal (110), 10th in mid-range shots on goal (89) and tied for sixth in long-range shots on goal (68). New Jersey was also tied for sixth in both offensive zone time percentage at all strengths (42.7) and even strength (42.1) at the time of the trade -- other key puck-possession indicators of a team's chances to go deep in the postseason. Hellebuyck, meanwhile, ranked second in 5-on-5 save percentage (.937) and was fourth in 5-on-5 close save percentage (.938) during his MVP season in 2024-25.

3. Hughes brothers' skating metrics

The Devils offense is fueled by elite center Jack Hughes, who reunites with Hellebuyck after they each played a huge role in the United States' gold medal at the Olympics; Hughes, who scored the golden goal in overtime to defeat Canada, is also teammates with Luke Hughes, his younger brother, on New Jersey. The Hughes brothers are each offensive difference-makers with strong advanced skating metrics.

Jack Hughes, who led the Devils with 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in his first 10 games this season at the time of the Hellebuyck trade, had scored all three of his goals from high-danger zones (96th percentile among forwards) and was also among the leaders in high-danger shots on goal (15; 97th percentile at position). Jack Hughes has also been a standout in total skating distance (36.99 miles; ninth among NHL forwards at time of Hellebuyck trade), 18-20 mph speed bursts (112; eighth in entire NHL) and max skating speed (22.63 mph; 86th percentile at position). 

Luke Hughes, meanwhile, is showing signs of breaking out in his fourth full season and is tied for third among NHL defensemen in shots on goal (30; behind Matthew Schaefer's 41, his other brother Quinn Hughes' 34) at the time of the Hellebuyck trade. Luke Hughes, who was averaging a career-high 23:57 per game this season at the time of the Hellebuyck trade, also ranks among the defenseman leaders in various advanced stats:

• 20-plus mph speed bursts: 18 (97th percentile)
• Total skating distance: 36.58 miles (95th percentile)
• High-danger shots on goal: 2 (96th percentile)
• Mid-range shots on goal: 10 (98th percentile; tied for fifth among D-men)
• Long-range shots on goal: 14 (96th percentile; tied for 10th in entire NHL)
• NOTE: Luke Hughes has scored at least one goal from all three major shot locations.

NHL EDGE IQ insights: At the time of the Hellebuyck trade, the Devils ranked third in the NHL in scoring chances (shot attempts of at least 5.0 percent Projected Goal Rate) off the rush this season (75 in 10 games) behind the Toronto Maple Leafs (78 in 12 games) and defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes (76 in 12 games).

In addition to having two of the three Hughes brothers and now Hellebuyck, the Devils have also built a deep supporting cast including forwards Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, Luke Evangelista and defenseman Dougie Hamilton. If Jack Hughes can stay healthy for a full season, Hellebuyck gives the Devils a ceiling of contending with the Hurricanes and Washington Capitals for the Metropolitan Division title. New Jersey, which last won a playoff round in 2022-23, could also be a dark horse Stanley Cup contender with a chance to win multiple postseason rounds for the first time since last reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2011-12.